Spicy Cocktail Nuts

I am surprised you are out of the competition. Your recipes are so delicious and extremely helpful. Hope you have a wonderful weekend.”

Contact me for instructions on how to redeem your prize! Congratulations!

Aw, nuts!

…Or so I said when I learned that my tenure in the Project Food Blog competition was done. After a brief spell of sitting on my bar stool at my counter indulging in self-pity, I came to three conclusions.

I was truly proud of each and every entry I submitted to the competition because each one represented my approach and attitude toward food.

I was kind of relieved. I had a pumpkin carving party to attend that night and that meant I could really have fun without worrying about a deadline.

I have the most loyal, kind, sweet, and hilarious readers ever created. The emails and messages of support left on the Foodie With Family fan page were and are much appreciated. And truth be told, you guys kind of choked me up a little bit. Thank you for all your support for me both during and after the competition. You are awesome.

Now, that being said, I thought the most appropriate way to say ‘thank you’ and express my opinion about being foisted from the competish was to make some nuts. As in aw, nuts. As in I’m nutty. As in I’m nuts for you guys. As in… let’s just make these nuts already, eh?

Spicy, sweet, salty, and totally addictive, these nuts will become an instant necessity in your holiday food arsenal. You will dream about these. Years ago (and we won’t say how many because I might be having an aging crisis), a friend brought these to an event that I organized at the office*. Let’s just say that these didn’t make it past my desk to the buffet table. They stayed with me. And my friend wasn’t allowed to pass the desk until he jotted down the recipe for me. Because I’m just that kind of person.

*The aforementioned event -my brainchild- was “PigFest” wherein we spent each Friday in November bringing in dishes to pass with the express aim of expanding our stomachs to better hold the bounty that would be lain before us at upcoming holiday events. Who ever said advertising people were impractical?

Let’s talk about these nuts for a moment. You can serve them warm (kept that way in a little slow-cooker) or room temperature; either way has its advantages. You can change out the seasonings used to spice them up. You can ratchet up or scale back on the heat. You can swap out walnuts, cashews, peanuts, Brazil nuts or whatever floats your boat for the almonds. You can pour a bunch of the cooled nuts into a clean canning jar, wrap some ribbon or rafia around it and give it as a fabulous hostess gift. But what you can’t do is skip making these.

Before we go any further, let me tell you about this giveaway. Aside from the nuts, it is another way of saying thank you for being here! The nice folks at CSN (and have you LOOKED at their sites? They have over 200 of them! It’s like my own personal candy store! That bar stool link above is to one of their sites.) have offered a $50 gift certificate just in time to stock up with the gear you need to turn out the best holiday meals you possibly can. Thank you, CSN! So the rules. First, I’m tired of contest rules so we’ll keep it simple.

Da Rules

Leave a comment.

That’s it. You’re entered.

If you really need more rules, perhaps you should make them up and leave them in the comment area.

I love you guys.

Really. Those are all the rules.

Oh geez, you slave drivers. Okay. One more thing. I’ll pick the winner at random on Saturday morning at an as-yet undetermined time. Because I told you, tired of the rules.

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk together egg white and water until frothy. Add the nuts and toss to coat. In a small bowl, combine the sugar, Essence, cayenne, and salt. Add to the nuts and stir to coat evenly. Spread the nuts on the prepared pan and bake until dry, about 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and stir to separate. Let cool on the baking sheet. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Essence (Emeril’s Creole Seasoning)

Recipe by Emeril Lagasse

2- 1/2 tablespoons paprika

2 tablespoons salt

2 tablespoons garlic powder

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano

1 tablespoon dried thyme

Combine all ingredients thoroughly and store in an airtight jar or container. Yield: about 2/3 cup

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together egg white and water until frothy. Add the nuts and toss to coat. In a small bowl, combine the sugar, Essence, cayenne, and salt. Add to the nuts and stir to coat evenly. Spread the nuts on the prepared pan and bake until dry, about 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and stir to separate. Let cool on the baking sheet. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Comments

This might be the worst comment for you..LOL
I am sad today..and I love everyone..
Jesus Christ died for all of of us
I am hungry and have not ate.
Nor, do I feel like cooking.
Today anything free would be great!
If I win I was chosen.
Life is Good
and GOD is great!
Peace To All~
Be kind and smile at the LONELY

Am I the first one to comment? Did I comment in the right place? Does this mean I win $50? Aw, nuts…who knows. Not I. But I was told to comment, and thus I am. Speaking of nuts, those almonds look so delicious. I’ve always wished there were a way to reach through the computer screen and pull things out. Then I would be able to not only look at but taste all the scrumptious looking and sounding food on this website!

How do I love nuts? Let me count the ways. And let me tell you, I love all nuts (and you can interpret that however you want, LOL). In all seriousness, I love this recipe and am anxious to try it. I’m always looking for cocktail party stuff. I think this will be a perfect fit!

You just helped me decide to take warm nuts to our tailgate this Saturday!
That’s genius! I’ve put cookies in a crock pot on warm to keep them nice
and yummy but…. why didn’t I ever think about doing nuts? I guess I’m nuts!
Thanks so much! Love your site!!

Okay – so there’s this restaurant that I *always* try to go to when I’m in Spain. Why? The nuts. They have this assortment of nuts that are warm and sorta with a hint of spice (maybe garlic?) and the amazing olive oil, and the Mediterranean sea salt crumbled on them…

I have yet to see you post anything that I didn’t want to make…immediately. I’m using up a lot of printer ink because, yes, I have to print your recipes with all the wonderful pictures. Thanks for being you!

Ok..truthfully? The idea of his Essence always kind of freaks me out. I know it is just because I am deeply immature but distilled Emeril (even though I have it on my shelf!) remains unappealing. Seriously, if I handed you a little container full of red granules and was all: “Here, this is essence of me. Sprinkle my essence on stuff, it is delicious.” – are you really telling me that would be 100% ok with you? That said, these nuts look terrific. Might have to use the egg white trick for my spiced pecans this weekend, or just swipe the whole recipe.

I absolutely love your blog! I have read every single blog entry and made many of your recipes. Thank you for teaching me to make yogurt! Please, Please, please, post your dumpling recipe that looked so delicious is a previous post.

I love the nuts recipe, thank you, can’t have too many spicy nut recipes :). Pigfest actually let me down a bit, I envisioned huge piles of bacon, but love the idea of “prepping” for the holiday meals.

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